Canada’s Tech Market Stays A Half Step Behind The US Tech Market

The Canadian tech market will grow in both 2018 and 2019, but growth will slow from 5% in 2017 and 2018 to 3.7% in 2019, according to Forrester’s report, “The Canadian Tech Market Outlook For 2018 To 2019.” These growth rates, while healthy, still lag the US tech market’s growth by a couple of percentage points. The slowing in 2019 is due to weaker Canadian economic growth stemming from the uncertainty surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement and other US tariff threats, along with threats from high household debt and overpriced real estate.

Similar to the US, new public cloud offerings in Canada are providing CIOs with opportunities to update their IT infrastructure and spend more on new projects. Also like the US, Canada will have greater demand for business technologies for winning, serving, and retaining customers compared with back-office technology. Business and government spending on software in Canada will grow in 2018 and will continue to do so in 2019, though at a slower rate. Increased software buying will lead to similar increases in tech consulting and systems integration work. Computer equipment buying will remain strong in 2018 as Canadian firms refresh the PC and tablet portfolios but will slow in 2019 with the slowing Canadian economy.